£1000 to spend on C2W scheme... Bike advice please..

[SpokeyDokey]

• The Cube Peloton Pro is great for fitness and leisure use. The SL offers an abundance of highlights, such as the new 11-speed Shimano 105 Compact drive train (with an Ultegra front and rear derailleur), a double crank (50/34) and a wide ratio 11-32 cassette - for a super wide range of riding styles. The stiff and comfortable Mavic Aksium S wheels are great! View attachment 60785
• I think I've got to go with this beauty...... And a bike fit from the shop aswell.

You won't go far wrong with that - looks cracking too.

 

[Cubist]

Nicer in red

 

[LSAF2011]

• The Cube Peloton Pro is great for fitness and leisure use. The SL offers an abundance of highlights, such as the new 11-speed Shimano 105 Compact drive train (with an Ultegra front and rear derailleur), a double crank (50/34) and a wide ratio 11-32 cassette - for a super wide range of riding styles. The stiff and comfortable Mavic Aksium S wheels are great! View attachment 60785
• I think I've got to go with this beauty...... And a bike fit from the shop aswell.

That is a beaut, I went with Planet X this year and got the Pro carbon Sram Rival, it's nice light and very sturdy but no bike fit. It wasn't till after that i'd noticed you could have a bike fit for 1/2 price, boomer

 

[Racing roadkill]

Hello everyone,

As per title, I have £1000 to spend on a road bike, now in other posts I have been putting the cube peloton sl 2015 at the top of my list, but on visiting a few bike shops today, they all said that the components are amazing, but the,frames are not that good ( please correct me if they ar wrong. ) , so I seem to be back to square one with my selection. I have been looking at the Dale synapse, but a bit unsure about the disc brakes, also been looking at the cadd8. Two of the bike shops pointed me towards the Scott speedster 10 2015, which looks nice. But at the end of the day I'm totally confused again now, so call on the experience of fellow cc'ers to give me some options / opinions
Either alloy or carbon.
On suitable steeds for me. This is an early 50th present off my wife.....
If I knew how to post links to bikes I would , but sorry I dont.

Regards

Tony

At the price you're looking at for C2W eligibility, I'd have said an alloy frame, with a better group / wheelset would be a better idea. most Carbon bikes at the 1000 limit will have skimped on certain components, and the wheelset will not be as good as it could. If you were to get a British Cycling membership, and be willing to put some cash down (probably a hundred quid or so), you could bring the Boardman Carbon Pro into reach of the C2W scheme. This has a much better groupset / wheelset, than the Road Carbon. I'll admit I'm biased, as I bought one last year, but for the money, it's a pretty good VFM piece of kit. I got it from Halfords, then took it to my LBS, to have any build issues sorted for about 30 quid.

 

[Cyclist33]

Last year, the go to C2W bike was the Defy 1, without a doubt. It offered a good all round build, great frame, great groupset and reviews made it bike of the year.

Not sure how it stacks up this year, with a redesign, but if it's as good as the previous year then it definitely worth a look.

Which reviews?

 

[bpsmith]

Which reviews?

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=defy+1+2013+bike+of+the+year

 

[maltloaf]

My company is now doing a c2w scheme but only through one supplier.

You have to buy through the cyclesolutions web site and the choice is a bit limited, especially for £1k. No full carbon choice at all except a Raleigh that's out of stock until Feb 2015. I already have a pretty well specced light alloy bike and it didn't cost me anywhere near £1k so c2w is unfortunately a waste of time in this instance

 

[Cyclist33]

Which reviews?

So that's one review, as far as I can make out...

 

[bpsmith]

So that's one review, as far as I can make out...

Where have you been. The Defy 1 has been widely known as the best at that price point over the past couple of years.

Are you questioning that it's any good or just being awkward? What point are you trying to make?

 

[Cyclist33]

Where have you been. The Defy 1 has been widely known as the best at that price point over the past couple of years.

Are you questioning that it's any good or just being awkward? What point are you trying to make?

I'm questioning what you said about it - "Last year... reviews made it bike of the year". Which they didn't. One review did.

You're giving advice to someone who's about to spend a grand on something, wouldn't it be better to make sure your sourced info is correct?

What does "widely known as the best at that price point" mean anyway? If you mean by reviews, a) they're subjective and b) see above. If you mean by the experience and recommendations on CC, that's not the case.

*

I would have no hesitation recommending a Defy for C2W, it's exactly what I got, although I would advise to get the Defy 2 as it has rack mounts, and spend the balance on a nice upgraded wheelset for summer commutes and leaving the stock wheels for the winters.

That's based on my experience though and not on some mis-remembered reviews or a generalisation of other people's opinions.

 

[bpsmith]

I'm questioning what you said about it - "Last year... reviews made it bike of the year". Which they didn't. One review did.

You're giving advice to someone who's about to spend a grand on something, wouldn't it be better to make sure your sourced info is correct?

What does "widely known as the best at that price point" mean anyway? If you mean by reviews, a) they're subjective and b) see above. If you mean by the experience and recommendations on CC, that's not the case.

*

I would have no hesitation recommending a Defy for C2W, it's exactly what I got, although I would advise to get the Defy 2 as it has rack mounts, and spend the balance on a nice upgraded wheelset for summer commutes and leaving the stock wheels for the winters.

That's based on my experience though and not on some mis-remembered reviews or a generalisation of other people's opinions.

All of the above applies to ANY review and/or opinion which could ever be posted in reply to this or any other thread. What a pointless post.

Your recommendation of the Defy 2 assumes that the op would prefer the rack mounts over 105 groupset and the lighter SL frame. Take heed of your own advice maybe?

 

[Cyclist33]

All of the above applies to ANY review and/or opinion which could ever be posted in reply to this or any other thread. What a pointless post.

Your recommendation of the Defy 2 assumes that the op would prefer the rack mounts over 105 groupset and the lighter SL frame. Take heed of your own advice maybe?

Rather rashly, I assumed that C2W was intending to be a commuter bike and that rack mounts trumped a 105 groupset in the circumstances. Admittedly an assumption.

Yes of course it all applies to any subjective report, however that doesn't alter the fact that you said that reviews had made it bike of the year, and I could only find one such.

 

[bpsmith]

Rather rashly, I assumed that C2W was intending to be a commuter bike and that rack mounts trumped a 105 groupset in the circumstances. Admittedly an assumption.

Yes of course it all applies to any subjective report, however that doesn't alter the fact that you said that reviews had made it bike of the year, and I could only find one such.

This is getting out of hand now. I agree to disagree.

The Giant site itself states multiple reviews and 2 such awards. The main one being Cycling Plus magazine, which is quite highly regarded. Not the be all and end all, I agree. Reviews are always someone's own conclusions, but the bike of the year is undoubtedly not decided by one person.

There aren't many who think the Defy 1 is not an extremely well built and reliable purchase.

There are other bikes that fit the bill too.

 

[toeknee]

Surprise suprise, this is the bike I am now getting, 105 11 speed.

 

[toeknee]

• 400 2015 Features are:
  
  Frame: 6066 Triple butted and formed aluminium frame with flex stays, tapered head tube, smooth welding, and internal cable routing
  
  Fork: Full carbon fork with tapered steerer - Comp
  
  Headset: Big Conoid S-bearing neck pro
  
  Bars: Merida Anatomic Road Oversize
  
  Stem: Merida Pro Carbon face plate - Oversize -5 deg
  
  Speed: 22
  
  Front Mech: Shimano 105
  
  Rear Mech: Shimano 105
  
  Shifters Shimano 105
  
  Chainset: Shimano RS500 50-34
  
  Bottom Bracket: Attached
  
  Cassette: Shimano CS-5800-11 11-32
  
  Chain: FSA F11S
  
  Front Brake: Merida Road Pro
  
  Rear Brake: Merida Road Pro
  
  Rims: Fulcrum Racing Sport
  
  Front Hub: Fulcrum Racing Sport
  
  Rear Hub: Fulcrum Racing Sport
  
  Spokes: Fulcrum Racing Sport
  
  Tyres: Maxxis Dolemites 25c Kevlar bead Front Maxxis Dolemites 25c Kevlar bead Rear
  
  Seatpost: Merida Carbon